Banana-crate.



PATENTBD APR. 11, 1905.

11. SE XTON.

BANANA 01111111.

APPLIGATIOR PIELBD MAY 11, 1904.

- WITNESSES: @412. W

/N VEN TOR A T-TOHNEY UNITED. STATES BEST AVAlLABLE C 2) Patented April 1 1, 1905.

PATENT OFFICE.

BANANA-CRATE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 787,124, dated April 11, 1905.

Application filed May 11, 1904. Serial No. 2O'7, i6l.

To all whom it may concern:

Be itknown that I, HENRY SEXTON, acitizen )f the United States, residing at Sioux City, .11 the county of Woodbury and State of Iowa, whose' post-office address is Sioux City, Iowa,) iave invented a new and useful Improvement n Banana-Crates; and I do declare the follow mg to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part thereof.

My invention relates to means for shipping fruit, more particularly bananas; and the obiect of my invention is to provide a crate in which certain kinds of fruit may be packed and shipped at so little cost as to make its preservation or return unnecessary. It is well known to the trade that banana-crates now in use are too costly to abandon after one ;hipment and the' damage to crates and expense of their return only add to the original lost. My crate is intended for one shipment only, and the cost of construction is so small that it may then be thrown away. At the same time it is strong enough to meet every requirement of safety in shipment.

The invention consists in the novelty of construction and arrangement of parts, as will be pointed out in the claim.

Reference is now had to the accompanying :lrawings, in which- Figure Us a view of my invention in perspective, showing the crate open. Fig. 2 is a sectional plan view, and Fig. 3 is a view in side elevation, showing the crate packed and ready for shipment.

Like parts are designated by similar letters of reference. 1

A is the bottom of the crate and consists of a flat rectangular piece of wood. The sides B, C, D,and E are composed of two thicknesses of paper, a being the inside paper and b the outside, between which at regular intervals are inserted slats or narrow strips of wood 0 c c 0,.the paper being fastened to the slats by means of tacks 72. [L h. There are provided two slats for each side of the crate, the upper edge of the paper extending beyond the slats, so that it may be gathered together and tied with a string 9, as seen in Fig. 3. If it is desired to provide against frost for shipment in cold weather, straw or excelsior (Z is packed between the two papers, as shown by the broken lines of the paper a in Fig. 1.

When the crate is constructed, the sides 13, C, and E are secured to the bottom A bydriving nails fff through the lower ends of the slats into the edges of the bottom. The side D is left open for the insertion of the fruit. A small wire 0 for binding the crate is passed around the sides near the middle and secured to the slats by the brackets i i 91, the ends of the wire extending slightly beyond the adjacent edgesof the two sides D and C.

When about to be packed, the crate is laid upon the side B and the fruit'inserted through the open side. This side is then closed, the nails are driven through the slats into the bottom, and the ends of the wire twisted together, as seen in Fig. 3. The crate is then stood upon its bottom, the upper ends of the paper gathered together and secured, and the packed fruit is ready for shipment.

I do not limit myself to the exact construction here shown or described, as modifications of the device may be introduced without departing from the principle of my invention.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

In a fruit-crate, the combination of a wooden bottom, side pieces composed of double paper reinforced by perpendicular wooden strips between said papers forming a space therein for the insertion of straw, said side pieces adapted for nailing to said bottom and extending upward beyond said wooden strips, the extension of said side pieces forming a hood adapted to be gathered and tied, a tying means for said hood and a wire passing around and secured to said crate for binding the same, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I hereunto aflix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

HENRY SEXTON.

Witnesses:

F. W. Lona, H. C. GARDINER. 

